Northwest adult education instructors nominated as START trainers
By LaJuan Tallo| 4/27/09

Two Northwest Mississippi Community College Adult Basic Education (ABE)/GED instructors have been nominated to become certified as Student Achievement in Reading (STAR) teacher  trainers. Vickie Barksdale of Senatobia and Amy Savage of Sardis were among 19 trainer candidates nominated by state leadership and accepted to begin the certification process to train other teachers in the START program.

 

 

Barksdale and Savage attended a three-day Training of Trainers (TOT) event in Washington, D.C. in January of this year. In order to become certified trainers, they will hold three two-day sessions in Corinth to train teachers from Northeast Mississippi Community College and Itawamba Community College. They will also have to submit a portfolio of their training, answer several intense study guide questions, submit a state plan for how they plan to carry out the program and provide technical assistance for the teachers they train, according to Savage.

The two are already certified to teach the STAR program, Savage said. 
“STAR addresses intermediate level adult readers and identifies their weaknesses in the areas of alphabetics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension,” Savage said.

She added that the program, which is usually one-on-one or small-group oriented, provides strategies for teachers to deliver explicit instruction in all four areas. The classes for intermediate adult students usually last for eight weeks with two hours a day and three days a week of instruction.

Barksdale and Savage are two of only four teachers from Mississippi who were chosen to become STAR teacher trainers. The other two are from the Grenada Adult School, Barksdale said. They expect to complete their training by Jan. 2010.

“When the state director called and asked me for two teachers who could become trainers, I selected Vickie and Amy because they have done an excellent job in the STAR classes,"  said Guy Purdy, director of Adult Basic Education. “I felt like they would be good representatives for the state of Mississippi to train others and also a great representation of Northwest. We have one of the largest programs in the state because of instructors like Vickie and Amy. “

For more information about the Northwest ABE/GED program, call
662-562-3347 or visit www.northwestms.edu.